The cannabis org chart, updated weekly

October 22 » The Highrise → Check out the second in our NYC series and apply to attend. Event details coming!
November 12 » Pot Policy and Politics → The second installation of the Midwest Cannabis Forum, this time in St. Louis. Ticket discounts through October 12.
COMING EVENTS → Las Vegas & Buffalo

Stay tuned for more Fall 2026 events coming soon!

In cannabis, the org chart never sits still.

Executives change seats, founders move on to their next thing, and operators jump from one corner of the supply chain to another. 

Behind every headline about consolidation, new markets, or shifting regulations is a person deciding to take a bigger swing, or a company betting on someone new to steer it.

That's what People Moves is here for, exclusively for Cultivated Members.

Each week, we're tracking the biggest personnel changes across the industry, from C-suite appointments to notable departures, plus a handful of the most interesting job openings we've spotted along the way. 

Whether you're keeping tabs on who's gone where, scouting talent, or quietly wondering if it's time for your own next move, this is your weekly scan of who's rising, who's shifting, and who's hiring.

Here's a sneak-peek of what we have this week:

Moving:
- David Côté and Geoffrey DeGrasse launched Blue Osprey Group, Blue Osprey helps cannabis retailers understand what their business is worth, prepare for a sale, reach the right buyers and get a transaction to close.
- Duol Chut > Board member of The Cannabis Chamber of Commerce
- Robyn Rabinovich > Chief Growth Officer at Olli Brands Inc.
- Chelsea Kossower > Chief Revenue Officer at Puffco
- Doug Rodewald > Announced he was leaving his position as Head of Payments at Dutchie
- Sandie Ryan > VP of Customer Success at Sweed

Hiring:
- The State of Minnesota is seeking an Executive Director Cannabis Expungement Board
- Sweed is seeking a VP of Sales
- Broadway Cannabis Market is seeking at Marketing Director
- Lumino in the Netherlands is seeking a Managing Director - European Cannabis Industry

Know of a hire, promotion, or departure we should have on our radar? Starting a new role yourself? Hiring for a position that deserves a wider audience? Send your updates to [email protected] and we'll consider them for a future edition.

Become a Cultivated Member and get People Moves in your inbox each week →

-JR

There are a lot of scary headlines about rising cannabis use disorder (CUD), including one in The New York Times in August reporting that about 1 in 10 American men had symptoms of CUD.

A new paper in the Journal of Addiction Medicine helps unpack what that diagnosis actually means, and it turns out, the reality is a lot less scary than it’s portrayed in mainstream media. 

Researchers surveyed 4,140 daily cannabis users, the heaviest-consuming group there is. Even among them, 75% had either no CUD (30%) or mild CUD (45%), meaning they met just 2–3 of the 11 diagnostic criteria. About 16% showed physical dependence, and only 3.1% had severe CUD.

In other words, "cannabis use disorder" is a broad label. Most people who technically meet it look more like a person who has a glass of wine or two with dinner every night, rather than someone suffering from addiction. Lumping them together inflates the alarm, and it also makes it harder to identify and help the roughly one in five daily users who really are struggling.

-JB

“Cannabis is treated like plutonium,” our cofounder and Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Berke told hosts Shawn Collins and Erik Gundersen of The Hybrid Podcast. “I see the structure of the stigma everywhere you go. Once you understand that, it’s impossible to miss.”

Check out the full episode:

Two new committees, Floridians for Marijuana and Let Florida Vote IV, filed recreational legalization initiatives this week that would let existing medical operators sell to adults 21+ and open licensing to new businesses that don't need to be vertically integrated. They join Smart & Safe Florida's pending measure in a race to collect 880,062 valid signatures, after the 2024 version won a majority but missed the 60% threshold.

Missouri's Division of Cannabis Regulation filed rule changes that would set a framework for publicly traded companies to hold licenses, drop preapproval for ownership changes of 50%, and let microbusiness licenses pass to eligible family members. The package also tightens recall procedures for products that can't be traced back to Missouri-grown cannabis, with public comment open Nov. 2 to Dec. 2.

The Office of Cannabis Management forced a halt to distribution of SpaceBuds Moon Bites rosin gummies because their sugar-granule coating looked too much like Nerds, Jason Ambrosino, CEO of manufacturer Veterans Choice Creations, posted on LinkedIn. Regulators also objected to the phrase "cosmic candy-coated" in a poem on the back of the bag, which Ambrosino called proof of the subjective enforcement dogging the state's market.

Michigan's Cannabis Regulatory Agency revoked the recreational dispensary's license after staff split orders to dodge purchase limits and handed hundreds of vape carts to two social media influencers in summer 2025. The final order also cites failures to check IDs and track inventory.

The Cannabis Control Board fined the equity dispensary after finding its justice-involved owner held 51% of the votes but just 14% of the economics, while four minority partners took 86%. Gotham Buds has 90 days to fix its operating agreement or pay 5% of its 2025 sales, and the board can move to suspend its license after 180 days.

Catch up on Friday’s This Week in Cannabis Live — it was a good one. Jeremy discusses his reporting on how Smart Approaches to Marijuana uses misinformation to mislead voters into supporting a measure to repeal cannabis sales in MA, and Jay breaks down what’s next for rescheduling after last week’s pause. 

Curaleaf's UK-based arm signed a deal to make and distribute Vericura's medical cannabis products in the UK, while its QMID cannabis inhaler became the first of its kind registered with Australia's drug regulator and launched in New Zealand. $CURLF ( ▼ 3.24% )

Justin Shoham, former chief of staff to state Sen. Raj Mukherji, alleges the Democrat recruited allies to front as social equity owners of dispensaries they didn't control, including Shoham's own Springfield shop, which racked up $4 million in debt and closed within a year. Mukherji called it a business dispute.

This one comes from the New York Office of Cannabis Management’s discussion at the Cannabis Control Board meeting in Rochester last week. Adult use cannabis prices fell by 8% this year. Price compression is something every facet of the industry is dealing with, from the retailers, to the growers, to the regulators. Full meeting notes are here.

And a plug: Here from leading New York cannabis brands and the Office of Cannabis Management’s executive director, John Kagia, at the Highrise in New York City on October 22 in partnership with Gotham.

Apply to attend here.

A hilarious discussion between Adam Friedland and Danny McBride on the Civil War, weed, and bodyboarding Myrtle Beach. We’ll let you watch the clip for yourself to see how it all comes together:

Back pain patients who stayed on medical cannabis for a decade cut daily opioid doses from 63 to 6 morphine milligram equivalents, according to a study in the European Spine Journal. The authors say the gains far exceed randomized trial results and likely reflect observational bias.

In a Small American City, a Story About Weed Reveals Much More | The New York Times

Curaleaf x Aurora: Why EU-GMP Is the Hidden Asset in the Deal | The DIME